Ruffler Foot

Did you know you could make ruffles without sewing and pulling the thread?! One of the main reasons why I do not make ruffles is because I usually end up breaking the thread when I am trying to get the fabric to gather to create the ruffles.  I was was THRILLED when I saw this post over at Shanty 2 Chic, where Whitney introduced a ruffler foot for your sewing machine!! Yes, making ruffles with the machine!  I ran out the next day and bought one for $20 and boy, am I glad that I did.  I really have made that many things with the ruffler foot (except just messing around with it), but I know it will come in handy for projects . . . especially since all of my friends have little girls.

{{Tips for ruffler foot at bottom of post.}}

A few weeks ago I purchased fabric for some Christmas pajama bottoms for Mrs.D, Mrs. Rooster's daughter, and myself.  Of course, now that I have the ruffler foot . . . BAM! Ruffles on the bottom and it only took a few minutes.  I use the pattern number B5204 by See & Sew (Butterick's cheap-o line.)  But you can use any elastic waste band pattern that you like.

I purchased my ruffler foot from the local Singer store for $20; however, Joann's carries them as well.  Not sure if you can use the coupon or not.  You can also order them from Amazon.com or check your local sewing machine store for a used one.  You want to see if your machine is "low shank"  It seems that the newer machines are "low shank"  If you have a "high shank" machine, I don't think it is labeled as high shank.  It also appears that most ruffler foot's are universal for any brand of sewing machine.  I followed the video below and went right to ruffling. Ruffling with the machine IS NOT HARD, even for the inexperienced sewer!  I hope you give it a try and if you have any questions or concerns, shoot me an email or leave a comment and I will try to help you. 

Christmas Door Hanger

I was stoked when I won the K&Company giveaway over at Paper Issues.  Check out all these goodies!!

Right now the current challenge is Christmas: Holiday Hook-Up.  Be sure to go link up your Christmas paper crafting projects.  There are some really awesome things ideas over there.   I could be inspired for hours.

 

I wanted to whip up something really quick with this pack and I had an extra door hanger . . . so, door hanger it is.  I am totally lovin' this door hanger idea. 

Pink & Brown Baby Shower For Mrs. M

I am so proud of myself!! This was the best baby shower ever! I totally rocked the decorations & food, I improved on my "hosting" skills, almost THIRTY people attended and Mrs. M was blessed with a lot of gifts.

So after bashing on how much I dislike burlap . ..  here I am using it again! LOL  I really like the dark brown burlap and the texture it created. The burlap is growin' on me.  {And I am workin' on another Christmas burlap banner too!}

 I wanted all of the food to be pink and brown.  I went with pretzels ( chocolate dipped and undipped), chocolate chip cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry granola parfaits and the ever popular cupcake; as well as, a mini dish of chocolates.  The sweets must have been pretty tasty because it was all gone by the end of the shower.

 

 My favorite sweet was the marshmallow pops that I covered with chocolate.  Oh this was so easy and cheap too! I could have made a million of these.

Paci Clips, Burp Rags & Head Bands

The baby shower is today and I can't wait to post some pics of the banner and cupcake toppers that I made.  This is the last of the baby items that I made for Prego Mrs. M. . . . Oh how I want to make more but I really need to get started on some Christmas decor and other things.  I did not use a pattern to make these pacifier clips and you know, how I hate giving tutorials  . . .  . Sewed up a strip of a fabric with fun trims, added a snap to one end for the pacifier, sewed the other end to a key ring, and then the clip was added to the key ring.  (You can get the rings and clips at Hobby Lobby and probably Micheal's too.)  I think they turned out pretty darn cute.

 

Can't forget the burp rags!!  I usually cover the whole side of the burp rag, but this time I only covered the middle section . . . . I can't decide which I like better, the whole side or just the middle.  Although, it sure was easy & fast only covering the middle section.

And one more . .. . I LOOOOVE it when baby girls wear the big flowers on their heads.  And Mrs. M's baby girl must have some!  I hot glued scrap booking flowers to a premade headband.  So easy!

Baby Spoons

Crossing off some baby projects off of my list!! Starting to feel caught up!!

When I saw these beaded spoons over at Cup of Delight.  I knew I had to make some for Prego Mrs. M. Cup of Delight jazzed up plain baby spoons by wrapping wired beads around the handles for a customized look.  I changed it up a bit by gluing rhinestones onto the handles.  A little E6000, rhinestones, and only 15 minutes- BAM! You have glammed up baby spoons.  I wrapped a piece of cardboard with scrap booking paper and used heavy thread to attach to the spoons to the cardboard.  The whole project was pretty inexpensive and very fast.

Christmas Wreath with Outside Decor

I am ashamed to say that I don't have my Christmas tree up yet!! Ahhh!!! I totally need to get it into gear.  However, all of my other decor is up (including outside) and I only have ONE more gift to buy.  I am totally feeling under pressure because I have the baby shower coming up this weekend and I want to make a ton of Christmas items.  Last night I whipped up the outside wreath.  I like to keep things pretty traditional when it comes to Christmas, so my wreath isn't anything to fancy but I like it.  Very fitting for our not so fancy house.  Thanks to King, our lights are hung too!

A simple evergreen wreath with a package of dollar store ornaments, dollar store star and a few half priced berries all hot glued onto the evergreen.  I am diggin' on the classic look.

Glamor Gloves

Finally!! We have some below freezing temperatures!! So I stayed up late and whipped up some "glamor gloves"  thanks to  Little Miss Momma.  I picked up each pair of gloves at Joann's for only $1 and glued on scrap trims and rhinestones.  If you need a cheap and easy gift for several people, this is the gift to make for them.  So stylish!

 

Apparently, I thought Mrs. Rooster's daughter had two left hands.  Ahhh!!

Treasure Hunting with Mrs. Rooster

Hello everyone!!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have been terribly busy with many large projects that I plan on posting and sharing with you over the next several weeks. Girl Scouts Honor!

My most recent find was completely unexpected and totally fit the bill for my office. Tip 1. when treasure hunting you must always be prepared to find a bargain when you least expect it. So always keep some cash on hand. ($10) However, don't purchase anything unless you have a use for it because it then it would not be a bargain!

I was coming home early from a completely STRESSFUL day at work. Just kidding I don't really have stressful days in my job! But I did totally take off early. And there to my surprise across the street from my house, on a beautiful Thursday afternoon was a "YARD SALE"! Yippee I thought to myself. I totally strolled through the piles of great things and found this old, rustic, french country chair that fit the profile to a "T" for my office chair. I totally had to have it. So I paid $5 bucks and carried it all the way home - across the street!

As you can tell from the picture this chair was not "tushy" ready. I had all the supplies at my house for this project. I left the paint mostly the way it was because I really liked the age of the chair and I didn't want to take that away from it. It gives it ummm... character. I took a 1 inch piece of plywood from the garage and cut it to fit the chair. I took some 5 inch foam and cut it to the size of the base.

I had some left over remnants of my drapery fabric for my office. So I used it to wrap the cushion. With a few swift pushes of my handy dandy staple gun this projects was a wrap in like 5 minutes. It looks so good in my office and was a great find. For under $5 I got exactly what I was needing in my office space. A chair for Haley to come sit in and talk crafts with me. I would love to hear about your fabulous finds..so please share with us and also Happy Treasure Hunting!

Mrs. Rooster